What is the Best Programming Language for Beginners

Elijah Powell

From Unsplash by Mohammad Rahmani

Intro

The best programming language for beginners is often confused with the easiest programming language to learn. Most people who create these lists of the best programming languages might argue that Most programming languages on do relatively the same thing for teaching the conceptual aspects of programming. I completely agree with that statement and in my opinion most beginner lists are actually decent, however learning a more complex language earlier on can not only get you familiar with more conceptual dense ideas, but also expose you to syntax that will be more transferrable if you decide to pick up another language later on. In this article we will overview 3 different programming languages and evaluate which one might be the best for your goals.

Keywords: Embedded Systems; Front-End; Back-End; Machine Learning;

What makes a good starting language?

Well it depends on numerous factors are you, looking build passion projects for college apps,do you want a job in tech? If you want a job you then need to ask what job? programming is a powerful tool and at the end of the day if you whether you decide yo continue your development journey or not, the first language you learn matters! Python This wouldn’t be a comprehensive discussion without mentioning python. Python is one of the easiest language to get started with from it’s English like syntax to it’s many applications that are achievable early on. Python is a strong backend language for app/web development and is the language of choice for most technology companies when creating Machine Learning Models. For the most part all language have the same beginner projects that you can find tutorials on, python however, has a surplus of useful automation projects that are actually very approachable for learners as they cross into intermediate territory. Everything from automating Instagram messages, LinkedIn connections, and file management, is possible with python. Python comes in hot at number 2 on our list because of it’s immediate usefulness and robustness as a language! Rating: 9/10

JavaScript/TypeScript

Javascript, is a language used by many web developers. It is one of the easiest languages to learn because of it’s understandable syntax and frameworks. Javascript is unrestrictive languages meaning there are many ways to implement features which are equally as valid. TypeScript is a superset of javascript, this means it adds features to it and can be thought of as an “extension” of it. TypeScript adds static typing to js, which lets you define variables, function parameters, and return values, all of which help make error checking more possible. General it’s recommended to start with TypeScript, because it helps you familiarize yourself with good coding practices. Personally I agree with this however, I would add that it depends on your future plans. If you want to go into web development, then learn typescript but if you just want to learn a single language to put on a resume or build cool projects, then javascript is fine. Lastly if you want to do things outside of web development, I wouldn’t recommend either. Both languages are powerful and like most languages they can do a lot, but the thing they are good at is web development, and “good” is a loose term, Vanilla js, is no longer industry standard, meaning often you’ll face complications without a framework such as react, vue, angular, etc. Rating(TypeScript): 7/10; Rating(JavaScript): 3/10

C++

C++ Often considered difficult to learn for beginner’s. It is however one of the most transferable language, most if not all of the concepts you will learn will help you learn other languages more quickly making it a perfect language if your goal is to learn a powerful tech stack quickly regardless of your end goals. C++ is one of the fastest runtime languages and is an industry standard language for game development, it is also heavily inspired by C; both languages are popular choices for Embedded Systems. Arduino has a mildly more simplistic version of the language that helps students learn embedded Systems and Internet of things(IOT) concepts more easily, and Unreal Engine allows you to use C++ and Blueprint, which is their own programming system to develop industry standard games. C++ comes in last place on this because even though it has numerous application and is transferable, the learning curve is steeper then the previous picks and the use cases are relatively very niche. C++ is a good choice if your goal is to build IOT projects or learn Game Development. C++ might not be a good choice if you want to get a job in web or app development because in those positions C++ is not required. Lastly if you would like to get a job doing embedded systems you shouldn’t learn C++ as a beginner language because often embedded systems positions are a Intermediate or even Senior Level, This means it will likely be advantageous to learn other similar languages that provide a clear path of progression towards that end goal. Rating: 6/10

Conclusion

Overall My opinion is that you should learn more than one language anyway. Languages like C/C++ are extremely performant which is almost unnoticeable when first starting but can become a determining factor with larger projects, Python on the other hand is really easy to use, but because of that you might be doing yourself a disservice, when trying to switch languages or do more complex things. I personally recommend a moderately difficult language to start with! When learning to program arguably the easiest part of almost any language is the syntax, and objectively the hardest part is problem solving, which is why it depends, If your just doing simple web dev(frontend), then although the problem solving you have to do might be difficult, that difficultly is tempered by the unrestrictive nature of the language, vs indie game dev for example where you might need to learn web development on top of a game engine for your marketing goals in which case it would be better to learn c++/c# then js, html, and css. For the most transferable language that will help you gain problem solving skills, I would recommend C++, if you just need to chug projects on a resume then I would recommend Javascript.